Page 13 of Fast Kill

“No.” And given that Eduardo had died last night rather than surrender seemed good enough reason to believe he was innocent.

Carlos gave a long-suffering sigh. “I’ll send his wife flowers.” A pause. “So. Who sold us out?”

His hand tightened around the empty tumbler. “I don’t know. But I’m gonna find out.” And when he did, they would pay dearly.

“Fucking rats,” Carlos said in disgust, then his tone hardened with a steel Dillon recognized. “You will find out who was behind this betrayal and deal with it, do you understand me?”

Yeah, he understood perfectly, as well as the implied threat buried in the command. “Yes,patrón.”

“I mean it. This is bullshit, and I want it to end. These fuckers are costing me too much money. The boss is gonna be pissed.”

“I know. I’ll handle this personally.” He had to, if he wanted to live.

“What about the other thing you were looking into, with the girl?”

“I’m meeting with her tonight.”

“Cancel it. Find out who turned on us and deal with that first. That’s your biggest priority right now.”

He bit down on his back molars. “All right.”

“I’m late for my massage. Call me when you know something.”

“I w—” The line went dead in his ear. He released a heavy breath and put the phone into his pocket. He’d wait to shoot Taylor a text later on to reschedule.

He turned to stare out the suite’s window overlooking the harbor, seeing nothing. None of this felt right. If the American commandos last night had been DEA, it was just another link to pull him toward Taylor. She’d been seen near the location where Baker had died a couple weeks back, along with a few other people from the DEA.

What had she been doing there? So far he hadn’t been able to confirm whether she worked for the agency or not, but the pieces were all lining up in a way that made it impossible to think she wasn’t involved somehow.

If she was, how much did she know? Was she on to him? Could he persuade her to take bribes and be a source for him?

The meeting tonight was supposed to be a way for him to feel her out, and now he’d have to wait at least a day or two before he could. It made him damn uneasy. Still, there was a chance it was all just coincidence. Maybe she didn’t know anything.

For her sake, he hoped she didn’t.

If she did… Because she knew him and could risk exposing all the work he’d put into the cartel, he’d have no choice but to make that problem disappear.

****

Balancing the cake box in one hand, Taylor knocked on Charlie’s door with the other, a low-grade nervous buzz in her stomach. She could hear the rumble of male voices inside the apartment, and one of them was Logan.

Charlie pulled the door open and a huge smile lit her face. “You came!”

She shrugged. “My friend had to cancel, so I thought I’d drop by on my way home from work. For a bit,” she added, making it clear off the bat that she didn’t plan on staying long.

In truth, she was relieved that she didn’t have to see Dillon. It had been so long, she didn’t know what they’d even talk about now, especially after she’d seen him in that video clip in her boss’s office.

Charlie laughed. “We had bets on whether you would show or not at all tonight. You’ll be happy to know I had your back on that one,” she said, slinging an arm around Taylor’s shoulders to draw her inside. “And you brought us something delicious and fattening?”

“Tuxedo layer cake.” She wasn’t much of a baker, so she’d picked it up at her favorite pastry shop on the way over.

“This is partly why I love you. Come on in.” Charlie took the box from her and headed for the living room where the guys were.

Taylor could all but smell the scent of testosterone in the air growing stronger as she followed Charlie. She saw Jamie first, who grinned and got up to give her a hug.

Easton and Piper were on one couch, and her heart thudded a little harder at the sight of Logan seated in a recliner with his left leg up, a tensor bandage wrapped around it. A pair of crutches rested against the wall behind him.

His knee must be pretty bad, if he was actually resorting to crutches.

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